Lesson Learned
by Santana Hastings
Summary: Hannily AU: After being away at college for three years, Emily Fields comes back to Rosewood. There she must deal with her feelings for her first love, and former best friend. She must make a choice: her first crush, or her first real love? Mostly Hannily, with a little bit of Emison
1. Chapter 1

Emily Fields drove down the winding road that led to the entrance of Rosewood, the town she swore she would never go back to. She explained it away to everyone who asked, her mom and dad, Spencer and Aria, that it was too much, the memories held too much weight. That wasn't the case, of course. _She was everywhere in Rosewood, every tiny corner of every place._ At times like these, Emily had to remind herself that everything that had conspired between them had been years ago, and that the past was the past. **Welcome to Rosewood, Pennsylvania** , the sign read, and Emily felt every feeling but welcome as she entered her former home.

"You must tell me how Yale's treating you." She cooed to an astute looking Spencer Hastings as they made their way to their old corner of The Brew. Her friend hadn't changed at all, her brown hair was neatly pinned behind her ears, she was rocking a cream and black button up, very law student of her.

"As good as expected, by that, mediocre. You don't understand the struggles of being at the top of your class, while juggling an apartment and man. I'm just exhausted." She chuckled, her voice still contained the classic Hastings rasp.

"How's Toby? Are you still in cohabitation mode?" This made Spencer raise an eyebrow, and she shook her head.

"If cohabitation mode, you mean spending all of our nights slaving over textbooks and blueprints, while eating thai leftovers, yes we are." Emily took a brisk sip of her latte, tasting the light balance of hazelnut and cream. They didn't have these in San Francisco, that's for sure.

"I have to commend Ezra on these lattes. Top notch." She raised her mug, clinking one with the taller girl. Just as they did this, a petite brunette, with an all too familiar smile, came rushing into the cafe. "Aria Montgomery Fitz, speak of the devil." Aria rushed over to the corner couch, her arms outstretched and her gaze wide. She and Emily had a long and tender embrace, full of nostalgia and comfort. Aria and Spencer did the same, and they all settled in.

"You guys have no idea how much I've missed you. Phone calls and texts just aren't enough. I need my Hastings and Fields updates at least once a week." Her auburn eyes crinkled at the corners, she still looked like a 16 year old to Emily and Spencer.

"What do you want to know?" The olive skinned girl asked, her muscular legs crossed.

"How's swimming? Especially, how are those California girls, much better than the ones in Rosewood?" Emily winced at this question, and memories of her, Emily's first love came flooding from every corner of her mind. _Her pale blonde hair, her aqua eyes, the slight husk of her voice when she said her name._ She had to snap out of this, Aria was giving her a pained look. "I'm sorry Em, I know that's a touchy subject."

"It's fine, that was three years ago, this is now," she sighed, "San Francisco is better than I've ever imagined. UCLA is a dream come true, but there is someone in my life." This made Spencer raise her eyebrows in wonder.

"Who is this someone? If you're back to Paige, I will pop a-" Emily stopped her before she could continue on her semi tirade.

"It's not Paige, I promise, Spence. She's coming here soon, you guys know her pretty well." The girls continued to converse, the comfortable energy of Rosewood wrapping around all of them. An hour past, and Aria was halfway through her Hawaiian honeymoon horror story when the door swung open. Who was walking through that door, but Hanna Marin.

Her golden blonde locks were swept into an intricate braid on her shoulder, tiny aqua hoops hung from both of her ears. Emily noticed that she'd aged wonderfully, she had became a gorgeous women. The brunettes heart was frantically beating underneath her coat, as they locked eyes. Time stopped momentarily, the air crackled with tension. Aria, her face in a state of awe, leaned over to Emily. "I had no idea she was coming." This didn't matter at the moment, as Hanna awkwardly made her way to the counter of The Brew. Her movements seemed stilted and nervous as she bought two of Ezra's famous double fudge brownies. She plunked by Spencer's side of the couch, wrapping her in a tight hug. Hanna then leaned into Aria's side, breathing in her scent.

"You don't understand how hard all of this has been without you." She whispered into her onyx hair. Hanna pulled away from her, and slightly shaking, wrapping her hand around Emily's wrist. "Long time no talk, Em." The room was ripe with fog like anxiety, as the other girls waited for her response.

"Yeah, three years, and complete lack of communication. I'd consider that a long time, Hanna." Emily refused to look at Hanna, whose hand was still holding her wrist.

"It's college and New York, you know how it is. Life gets in the way sometimes." She murmured, chewing on the brownie quietly.

"Do I really know how it is? Because if I remember our last conversation well enough, you told me that life just wasn't that simple. That we all need our own lives, am I wrong?" Her voice had a biting undertone, this was Emily's rarely seen angry side. Hanna rolled her eyes and exhaled, playing with her hands.

"Guys, can we be a little bit more mature about this, seriously? Hanna, we would love to hear about NYU." As Hanna began to talk, a incredibly infamous women waltzed in, a bewitching smile dancing on her pink lips. Alison Dilaurentis was absolutely beaming, she made a beeline straight for Emily. Hanna's jaw hit the carpet at what happened next. As Emily grinned at Ali, the former queen bee gave her a swift peck on the lips. She intertwined her hands with the swimmer's and looked at the rest of the shell shocked group. "So, where do we begin?"


	2. Treacherous

"You and Ali?" Spencer was running her hands through her brown mane, obviously stunned. Emily forced a pained smile, and squeezed Ali's delicate hands. She stared at Hanna's high heeled feet, her mind wandering.

"Yes, we've been together for about a year." She held her chin in her tan hands, trying to gauge the girl's reaction. Aria was just over it, her eyes look vacant. Spencer just looked puzzled.

"What made you want to be together with Alison, out of all people? Do you remember the hell of our teenage years, how she made you feel?" Spencer was beginning her cross examination, Emily knew it. Ali batted her eyes, annoyed at the line of questioning. She really was a better person then who she was before.

"Spencer, if you're going to question my morality, I'd like it if you could ask me and not Em." She cocked her head at her half sister, challenging the would be lawyer.

"I'm not challenging anyones morality, Alison. I think we're all curious of your motivations. Last thing we all remember, you were as straight as an arrow." Emily piped up, she knew the truth of that question.

"If you really want to know, Ali doesn't like to be defined. She's already had enough labels imposed on her." This made Hanna audibly grunt, and the spotlight was suddenly on her. "Hanna, do you have something to say?" The tall girl asked.

"Em- I mean Emily. Are you seriously believing this crap? 'I don't do labels,' you already have dated those kind of people, and you know how those relationships have ended." Emily was floored by what she was hearing, she must have been naive in thinking that her friends would be accepting of her dating their former bully. Ali's eyes were welling up with tears, she begin to stand up.

"I'm sorry Em, but when I came here, I wasn't expecting to be greeted by a firing squad. I just need some fresh air." She sighed loudly, and sauntered out the door. Emily squinted her dark eyes at Hanna.

"Really Han, really?" She followed Ali out the door. Hanna clenched her fists in frustration. Aria, her eyes soft with sympathy, placed a hand on her friend's bare knee.

"Hey, don't work yourself up about this. Emily is smart, she'll see through all of this very soon. When she does, you never know, maybe you guys can have another shot." This made the blonde shutter, memories of her and Emily's relationship swam in her head.

It was the summer of 2008 when she had first laid eyes on one Emily Catherine Fields. Ali had dragged her to one of Emily's swim meets, she told her that there was someone we had to keep our eyes on. How could you ever take your eyes off Emily? When she emerged from the pool, her navy blue swimsuit outlining her athletic and toned body perfectly. Her shadow black hair was shining with beads of water, and she had a polite innocence to her smile. Ali, her eyes sparkling with mischief, brought Emily over to their spot at the bleachers. Hanna noticed the way Ali was looking at Emily, like she was the sun or the stars. Emily's first words to Hanna would be forever cemented in her mind, "You're Hanna? I've always wondered who the girl in those classy colored sweaters was." That made Hanna's whole day, maybe her whole week. That is what will always stick in her head about Emily Fields, as they delved into an intense friendship, and after that, a life changing relationship. All Emily had ever wanted was to make everyone else happy.


	3. Love Like This

`"Ali, do you need me to get you anything?" Emily hung in the wooden doorway, gazing softly at her obviously upset girlfriend. Ali hadn't even murmured a word since they had gotten to the Hastings house, and she looked like she had been crying for hours. "Babe, this is about Spencer and Hanna, I know it. Can we at least talk about this?" She brushed her fingers against one of Ali's free falling blonde hairs, but she tensed at that contact. Ali glanced up at Emily, her aqua doe eyes glistening.

"I'm sorry for putting you through this, Em. We're finally together and happy, and then this happens. You're always the one who has to come to my rescue, I want to be your lady in shining armor for once." She giggled, Emily noticed how her nose adorably crinkled as she said that.

"Hey, don't talk like that. You have time to save me." She leaned across Spencer's bed and laid a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I'll join you after, get into your pajamas and relax." Emily made her down to the Hastings lavish kitchen. Hanna, clad in stylish purple pants and a grey fashion week shirt. She cast a glance at the other girl, and felt her stomach doing gymnastics.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to attack your lipstick girlfriend again. I'm leaving." Hanna rudely brushed against Emily's side as she squeezed by the kitchen counter. Emily pressed her fingers around the pale girls palm, stopping her in her tracks.

"Ali's not the only one in this house who's dabbled in boys, Han." She tapped her foot on the gleaming tile, expecting a sassy one liner from Hanna, but getting the opposite.

"The difference is that I was in love with you, which you fail to remember. I thought you were it for me, that I'd never have to find anyone else." She quivered as she confessed this to her former love, blinking to fight the tears. Emily's arms were covered in chills, had Hanna just admitted what she had always wanted to hear?

"Hanna, I don't want to dwell on what happened years ago, ok. We can't keep living through the past, I'm with Ali now and you're the big time success at NYU." A stray image of the New York apartment the girls had looked at in their high school days flashed in Emily's mind, a picture of what could've been. "Can we at least try to be friends, for now?"

"No we can't. You have Spencer and Aria for your no strings attached friends, I'm practically a puppet I have so many." Hanna, tugged on her ponytail and walked up the stairs, a fire in her walk. Emily was in deep, she realized that the moment the blonde had left the kitchen.

 _It was another midsummer Friday night at the Dilaurentis house, Ali and her gaggle of best friends were gathered in her wonderfully pink bedroom. Emily and Alison were flanked on the bed, giggling to themselves as the swimmer's face was turning a bright shade of blush. Aria, cotton candy colored streaks and all, was clutching Pigtunia tightly in her arms, as Spencer practiced her speech for class president, pacing the room. Left out of all this fun was Hanna, who was left in the window seat, cradling a bowl of Cheetos. Ali sent a scorn filled glance her way, and sneered, "missing the conversation, Han? Or are you fantasizing about kissing Sean Ackard with those cheese stained lips?" Seeing the pain in Hanna's light eyes, Emily made her way to the girls side._

" _Han, don't let Ali get to you, she's just being… being her." She smiled at the blonde, placing a tender hand atop hers. Sparks filled Hanna's chest, making her feel almost dizzy. "I was thinking, maybe next Friday, you could come over to my house. We can eat all the Cheetos you want, and I'll kick your butt at Dance Dance Revolution." Emily grinned at Hanna, with more than friendly feelings in her heart._


	4. Awake

"Red or white?" Ashley Marin asked over the kitchen island to her newly legal daughter Hanna. While Hanna had gone through the stereotypical college phases and her looks had changed, Ashley had stayed the same, long dark scarlet hair and a penchant for wine.

"Hmm, red. Like mother, like daughter." The blonde chuckled as her mother handed her a pear shaped glass, "how has everything been treating you? The job, the men of Rosewood?"

"Life has been the same as usual without you, except my nest is very empty and I don't really know what to do to fill it." She sat in the chair next to Hanna, grasping her daughter's hand.

"Shouldn't you be doing stereotypical mom things? Joining committees, knitting sweaters, and watching Netflix. I don't want you to be lonely."

"Oh Han, I'm the opposite of lonely, it's just sometimes phone calls aren't enough to fill the Hanna shaped hole in my heart."

"Well I'm here now, and that's all the matters. Aria invited all of the girls down here, it's Mike and Mona's big wedding, and you know Mona, she's pulling out all of the stops." As Hanna took a sip of the wine, a look of sadness filled Ashley's eyes.

"When you said all of the girls, does that include Emily?" Hanna inhaled deeply before she answered, trying to think of a calculated answer. She fidgeted with the arms of chair nervously.

"Yes Mom, Em is here, but we've both moved past everything, she's dating Alison now and I am focusing on college. It's water under the gates." She tried a muster a smile, but Ashley saw right through it.

" Look Hanna, you don't have to be okay, she was your girlfriend of four years, you were in love with her. It's understandable to still have feelings, especially now that she's dating Alison, your former best friend. You can let yourself be hurting for a while." Hanna grinned at her mother, who had just delivered one of her classic Ashley Marin motherly speeches.

"I know, but thanks Mom. This whole lunch meant a lot, I got to spend time with Rosewood's most eligible bachelorette. I have to jet off to Mona's three hours of torture that they call a pre wedding party, wish me luck." The blonde embraced her mother, and began to exit her childhood home, that had been full of fond and not some not so fond memories. As she cracked open the door to leave, she noticed a yellow sticky note stuck to the banister of the stairwell. In block handwriting it read, "A, Just ran out to get you a coffee. Hope you have a good time with Hanna. Love you more, J." Hanna was bewildered but full of glee, her mother had someone but who was this J? She thought of this as she pulled her tiny white car out of the driveway, and glanced at a black Sudan peel into the entryway of her house, and an incredibly familiar blonde guy stepped out. Was that… It couldn't possibly be… Jason?

"I know that sounds like I imagined it but I didn't." An exasperated Hanna explained what she had witnessed earlier in the day to a bewildered Aria. They across from one another at the Rive Gauche, which was so upscale it pained them. Mona, clad in a sparkling black mini dress with silver hoop earrings, was in full popular girl mode, sending fake smiles and winks to the incoming guests. "Mike could be marrying worse, what if Mona was Bridget Wu?" Aria giggled and hid her face behind her hands, not wanting to embarrass her brother.

"If he was marrying Bridget Wu, Ezra and I would have to relocate to Alaska." Hanna, looking for a quick escape from hurricane Mona, snuck into the bathroom. It was full of golden gleaming stalls and glimmering mirrors, and standing in the middle was Alison admiring herself in the mirror. Hanna turned around and tried to escape the wrath of the former queen bee, but was already caught.

"Hey Han, what are you running from? I'm not that scary." Ali's bubblegum pink smile snarled into a grimace, and she tapped her heel foot.

"Ali, I don't want a fight. I just wanted to have some peace, but I guess that's not in the cards for me."

"Do you hate me because of Emily? I saw the look you gave her when we were at the Brew, and I want you to know one thing." Alison took a domineering step toward Hanna, and held up one manicured finger to her face. "Emily will never be with you again, so stop holding out hope. I was her first love and will be her only, she's over Hefty Hanna and onto me, she thinks that she's made me better, you were just an Ali replacement. That is all you will ever be, so have fun in my shadow." Letting her shattering words sit in the air, Alison slammed the door behind her and left a crumbled Hanna on the floor. Her tears were spilling out onto her cheeks, and mascara stained them. Alison hadn't changed, and Emily was being played by the one person who could break her heart completely. As Hanna contemplated what to say to her former and slightly current love, a ghost from her high school past waltzed into the room. Paige Mccullers, who had grown up gorgeous, her former bowl bob had grown into waves of brown with blonde highlights, and her eyes were framed with dark, lush eyelashes.

"Hanna Marin, is that you?" Paige crouched on the ground next to the bubbly blonde, a worried expression on her face. "What's wrong? Did you have too much of that sketchy shrimp, I knew it was dangerous." This made Hanna laugh slightly, and she stared up at the swimmer.

"You probably won't understand this, but Ali's back and I.. I just don't know how to deal with seeing the girl who made my teenage years hell again." Paige reached a comforting hand on Hanna's arms, making her feel a dizzying sensation, which she chalked up to a mixture of alcohol and sadness. "Do you maybe want to get out of here, grab a drink?" She sniffled, steeling for rejection.

"I'd like that actually, I know a place we could go." As Paige led Hanna out of the bathroom and into the parking lot, she caught a look of Emily. Looking like a true goddess with her dark makeup emphasizing her smoldering eyes, and wearing a violet body hugging gown, she was possibly the most beautiful women Hanna had ever seen. They exchanged a loaded glance full of astonishment on Hanna's half, and pained surprise on Emily's to see her with one of Emily's famous exes. What was going to become of these two lovesick women?


End file.
